BECHTEL NATIONAL WARNS WTP EMPLOYEES OF POSSIBLE FURLOUGHS

Bechtel National warned employees at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant yesterday of possible furloughs due to budgetary issues. In a message to employees, Bechtel National Project Manager Frank Russo said two weeks of furloughs may be necessary this summer if the Department of Energy is unsuccessful in its efforts to shift funding around at the WTP to address budgetary issues this fiscal year. “Right now, we are cooperatively working with DOE to avoid impacts to our employees by reallocating funding internally to WTP. However, if unsuccessful, we have prepared contingency plans which include furloughs in the event there is a need to reduce labor costs to meet the funding levels,” Russo said, adding, “The plan includes the potential for the entire project to move to a 4×10 schedule sometime in early summer and the potential for furloughs during the weeks of July 8-11 and August 26-29.”

WC Monitor first reported yesterday the possibility of worker furloughs at the Hanford vit plant because of funding issues. DOE is soon set to submit to Congress a set of reprogramming requests intended to help better position funding among cleanup sites and among projects at those sites. As a result of the Continuing Resolution funding most federal programs for the remainder of this year, DOE’s cleanup funds have been kept largely at FY 2012 levels, which may not match up with current needs. At the Hanford vit plant, DOE is looking to shift $166 million away from the Pretreatment Facility, where work has largely been halted to resolve technical concerns, and to move approximately $120 million to the plant’s other main facilities, according to an April 2013 monthly project review presentation prepared by staff at the Department’s Office of River Protection, a copy of which was obtained by WC Monitor. The remaining $46 million would go to the Hanford tank farms “and the labs to support the ORP mission,” the presentation says.

In his message to WTP employees yesterday, Russo said, “As we continue to closely monitor our expenditures in April and May, we will continue to keep you informed of necessary actions. We are taking measures jointly with DOE to prevent the need to implement these contingency plans. We can only spend authorized funds. Therefore, we must maintain the flexibility to operate within our funding limitations. We will notify you at least 30 days in advance should events require us to take any actions that would affect employee schedules.”